NH police: Missing Maine mother who left child in car a crime victim

CONWAY POLICE | BDN

CONWAY POLICE | BDN

This undated picture made available by Conway, N.H. Police shows 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer. Police said Sunday, April 24, 2011 they have no reason to believe that the Maine woman voluntarily abandoned her car with her infant daughter inside in a New Hampshire parking lot.

CONWAY, N.H. — A Maine woman whose car and infant daughter were abandoned in a New Hampshire parking lot appears to be the victim of a crime, police said Sunday.

Local and state police are investigating leads and preparing evidence for analysis after 20-year-old Krista Dittmeyer’s car was found Saturday with its engine running and hazard lights flashing in the Cranmore Mountain ski area parking lot in Conway, said Lt. Chris Perley. But there is nothing to indicate that Dittmeyer left behind her car and child, who was found in the car, by choice.

“There is nothing we’ve uncovered to indicate that she voluntarily absented herself from the vehicle or the child,” Perley said. “People have asked about suicide or mental illness, but there’s nothing to indicate either of those things.”

Police got a call at 6:30 a.m. Saturday from someone who spotted the car. The baby is in good condition and has been turned over to family members.

Police said Dittmeyer, who lives in Portland and has ties to Bridgton, Maine, last talked to family members at about 8 p.m. Friday by phone.

Dittmeyer’s sister said the family didn’t know why she might have driven to New Hampshire, although Dittmeyer does have acquaintances who live in that area.

Kayla Dittmeyer told The Portland Press Herald that she believes someone forced her sister out of the car and that her sister persuaded that person to leave her daughter behind, effectively keeping her safe from harm.

“My sister is very headstrong, but she is also very bold and very honest. That is why I feel she is OK. She’s a very strong person,” Kayla Dittmeyer said. “I believe she is trying to talk her way through this.”

Krista Dittmeyer is a waitress and a single mother who would never abandon her child, her sister said.

“She would do anything for her,” Kayla Dittmeyer told the newspaper. “It was all so out of character for her. She would never put her daughter in harm’s way.”